CASTRO, Henri, pioneer, born in France in 1786; do in Monterey, Mexico, in 1861. He was of Portuguese descent, was an officer of the Paris national guard in 1814, and, after the overthrow of Napoleon, came to the United States, where he was naturalized, and appointed in 1827 Neapolitan consul at Providence, lRhode Island He went to Paris in 1838 as a partner in the banking-house of Lafitte, and in 1842 became consul-general in that City for Texas. Having received a grant of land on the banks of Medina river, he began in 1846 to send out emigrants to Galveston, and in 1844 established a settlement on the site of the present town of Castroville. During the next two years founded Quihi and Vandenberg. The number of his emigrant vessels amounted in 1846 to twenty-six, which brought over 485 families and 457 single persons, chiefly Alsatians. In 1847 he founded Dhanis. His settlements subsequently constituted Medina Countyo with Castroville as the capital.